Understanding the effects of genes on human traits

Montreal Scientists develop a novel approach for scanning the entire genome. In a study published today in Nature Communications, Dr. Constantin Polychronakos from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC), and collaborators from McGill University and The University of Texas, propose a novel approach for scanning the entire genome that will help us understand the effect of genes on human traits.

Supported by the McGill University and Genome Québec Innovation Centre, the research team applied this method to a diabetes gene and discovered that at least one of the 50 genetic loci that confer risk to type-1 diabetes shows an effect on the human body by altering RNA translation to protein.

This paper is one of six that were chosen, from approximately 4000, for presentation at the plenary session of the 2012 conference of the American Society of Human Genetics.

This work was funded by Genome Canada, Génome Québec (GRiD project) and the DP3 program of the USA National Institutes of Health (NIDDK).